Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to information handling systems. More specifically, embodiments of the invention relate to information handling systems implementing a distributed enterprise equipment location system.
Description of the Related Art
As the value and use of information continues to increase, individuals and businesses seek additional ways to process and store information. One option available to users is information handling systems. An information handling system generally processes, compiles, stores, and/or communicates information or data for business, personal, or other purposes thereby allowing users to take advantage of the value of the information. Because technology and information handling needs and requirements vary between different users or applications, information handling systems may also vary regarding what information is handled, how the information is handled, how much information is processed, stored, or communicated, and how quickly and efficiently the information may be processed, stored, or communicated. The variations in information handling systems allow for information handling systems to be general or configured for a specific user or specific use such as financial transaction processing, airline reservations, enterprise data storage, or global communications. In addition, information handling systems may include a variety of hardware and software components that may be configured to process, store, and communicate information and may include one or more computer systems, data storage systems, and networking systems.
One issue that relates to information handling systems is when a plurality of information handling systems are contained within a distributed enterprise environment. With such an environment it is desirable to be able to locate equipment (including information handling systems as well as components contained within or associated with information handling systems) within the environment. It is known to provide individual information technology (IT) equipment such as server type information handling systems with a lifecycle controller. Such a lifecycle controller can log detailed hardware inventory changes for that server. In large IT equipment environments (such as data centers or labs), it is common when accessing an information handling system within the environment to know that an entity (i.e., a piece of hardware contained within an information handling system) has been installed or removed. However, it is often difficult to determine whether the entity is new to the environment or was moved or migrated between different information handling systems in the environment. One example of when an entity is moved between different information handling systems occurs when an entity is “borrowed” from a nearby machine. Additionally, various emerging use cases include management controller awareness and cooperation between nodes in a chassis or across chassis. For example, it is known to use remote console capabilities to retrieve lifecycle logs and current inventory.
Accordingly, it would be desirable to provide a peer-to-peer means for retrieving lifecycle logs and current inventory. It would also be desirable to provide a system that allows a user driven request for lost inventory and a management controller's ability to receive the request, schedule and efficiently search applicable current or past inventory and notify the requester if a find occurs, as well as any associated reactions based on severity.